At mass on Sunday Father John reflected upon the tragedies in the world, in particular the violent attacks in Bondi as well as the worsening situation in Gaza. He reminded us that Catholics are people of hope. Jesus' own life took him to the depths of human suffering and as Easter people Catholics see beyond pain, the darkness and hard times, as people who live in faith, hope and love. With Father John’s thoughts I offer this prayer for Easter and for all of those suffering.

An Easter Prayer

(Adapted from, Prayers for Progressive Christians Michael Morwood)

This Easter season, we rejoice that his life and all that he lived for all that he believed and taught leads us to see beyond death and darkness and to believe in transformations beyond our imagining.

In his memory, we gather once more as a Catholic school community committed to hospitality, friendship and learning.

We share his stories, committing ourselves to be Easter people, people who see beyond the barriers, that pain, the darkness of hard times, people who live in faith, hope and love in all the seasons of our lives whatever the ups and downs.

We pray for one another:

May you love the life within you

May you love the life around you

And may you know that

a part of everything is here in you

a part of everything is here in you.

We pray for ourselves:

May I love the life within me

May I love the life around me

And may I know

A part of everything is here in me

A part of everything is here in me. 

We open our eyes,

We open our ears,

We open our hands,

We open our minds,

We open our hearts.

Amen

Welcome back to school for Term 2. This term (like the last) there are opportunities within and beyond the classroom. Our PSA are working hard to continue promoting and developing our school community: in particular we have the Mother’s Day Breakfast and a Parent Social Night organised for this term. I encourage everyone to support our PSA through these two events.

Camps, cross country, excursions and sacramental celebrations add extra life to our already vibrant classroom experiences.

Our staff will continue their professional learning through our engagement in the Structured Literacy Project and further development of our School Wide Positive Behaviour Support which is the focus of our school closure day on Friday 3rd May 3rd (day after May races).

Camp Rest Days

One of the outcomes from the Catholic Education Multi-Enterprise Agreement 2022 for education staff was the introduction of Time In Lieu for hours worked by staff beyond the 38 hour week.  This includes activities such as parent teacher interviews, extended days, sacramental celebrations etc.  The most significant activity impacted by this change has been camps.  Basically, for each day of camp, each staff member accrues 1 day of Time In Lieu. As you can imagine this creates a significant cost to running each camp.

You may have read in the media that many schools have cancelled and/or shortened camps as a result of this change.  Other schools have transferred this extra cost to families as a part of the camp fee.

At St Joseph’s we have a well planned, cumulative camps program that begins in Foundation, Year 1 and Year 2 with an extended day and moves through our 4 camps:

• Year 3 - Warrnambool, 1 night
• Year 4 - Kangaroobie, 1 night
• Year 5 - Ballarat, 2 nights
• Year 6 - Melbourne - 2 nights

The value of camps cannot be underestimated for growth, independence, developing relationships and just pure fun.   I make a habit of attending the 2 night camp in Ballarat with the Year 5 children (unfortunately principals do not get TIL!) as a way of further getting to know the future leaders of our school. I have noticed how important the second night is when the novelty has slightly worn off and how the group gels and bonds together. 

In order to maintain our current camp program without transferring cost to families we are encouraging a POST CAMP REST DAY for children while staff acquit one day of their accumulated TIL.

Our records show that attendance on the day after a camp sits at about 25%.

To support families who are unable to keep their children at home post camp we will provide care at school. Please note that normal lessons will not be running. This option will be provided to families prior to the camp via a direct email to assist us with our planning.

Traffic Safety

Towards the end of last term I had some reports that children were exiting cars on the driver’s side and that some drivers were pulling out to overtake cars in front of them.

Please remain patient in the loop to ensure the safety of all. 

• So a reminder that all passengers exit only from the left side of the car.

And

• Please do not overtake in the loop.

Mini Vinnies

Monday Fun Day - On Monday 25th March, the mini vinnies and the St Joseph Primary School community organized a fun day for all year levels ranging from Foundation to Year 6. On this day we managed to let everyone have a variety of fifteen activities. Some of the student's favorites included mini golf, the big Lego, and having fun with the parachute. Before this event, we asked all the families to give a gold coin donation. On that day we managed to collect $750 to help communities around the world through Caritas Australia. All the Mini Vinnies were a great help and contributed with organizing these activities for the year levels.

A big thanks to Mini Vinnies leader Mrs Brown.

Paddy Ward and Jessica Happ, Year 6 Mini Vinnie Students

Stations of Cross

Thank you to our choir and the children from Year 5 who led us in our Stations of the Cross liturgy at the end of last term.

Vale Andrew Suggett

We received the sad news that Andrew Suggett passed away during the holidays.

Andrew is the artist who painted the brilliant backdrop to our Tree of Life mural in the hall. Andrew generously volunteered his time and skill to work in collaboration with our Art Team to give our tree such a local flavour.